but I heard his feet on the stairs.
He came down precariously balancing three plates in his hands. He handed me two of them, paused in the doorway as he caught sight of Dru hunched over the bar, curled around her beer and struggling to calm down…at ten o’clock in the morning.
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “That’s all you, bro.”
“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes at him as he tiptoed dramatically back up the stairs. “Sissy.”
“Hey, give me a tango with an AK over a weepy female any day of the week.” He shut the door at the top of the stairs, and then I was alone with Dru.
Who was, yes, crying into her beer.
God help me.
Zane might have been on to something. What was I supposed to do now? I had no clue. I wasn’t even sure what the fuck had just happened to make Dru freak out on me like that. All I knew for sure was she tasted like heaven on my tongue and felt like perfection in my hands and I was still so fucking hard in my jeans it was hard to walk.
I brought the plates over to the bar, pulled myself a beer—because, fuck it, why not?—set a plate in front of Dru and sat beside her with mine. She didn’t openly flinch away from my presence—we were close enough that our shoulders were brushing. She picked up her fork, poked at the eggs a few times, and then dug in eagerly. I followed suit, but spent as much time watching her as I did eating.
“Not bad,” I commented. “He overcooked the bacon and undercooked the eggs a little, but not bad.”
She ignored me, focusing on the food, washing down every few bites with beer. When she was finished, she pushed the plate back a few inches, curled her hands around the pint glass, and stared down into the golden bubbling liquid.
I waited, sensing that she’d start talking when she was ready.
“I caught my fiancé cheating on me with a bridesmaid on our wedding day. Yesterday, I guess. Feels like a whole other life, in a funny way. Like…the naive girl who thought she was getting married to a man she loved. I was that girl just yesterday, but today I feel like someone else.”
“Was the bridesmaid one of your friends?” I asked.
Dru shook her head. “No. I don’t really have any female friends, to be honest. No sisters, cousins, aunts, nothing. Just me and my dad. The bridesmaids were all my—they were all Michael’s friends’ girlfriends. And the one he was fucking, Tawny, she was a friend of one of the other bridesmaids. There were three groomsmen—Michael’s three best friends—and Michael felt we needed a third bridesmaid, so Lisa asked her friend. I’d met Tawny like, twice? Maybe? We’d all get together for drinks, and Tawny was there a couple times. I never liked her. I always thought she came across as kind of slutty. Turns out I was right, apparently.”
“Apparently,” I agreed. “Think that was a one-and-done sort of thing? Like, he cheated on you just the once?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out. I can’t come up with any warning signs I missed along the way. So, from that aspect I want to say, yes, it was the one time. But then that doesn’t make any sense, does it? Why on our wedding day? It makes literally zero sense. On our wedding day, in his dressing room, in the same building as me. I was literally around the corner and down the hall, getting myself ready.” She sniffed. “I was…I was having jitters, you know? Like, am I doing the right thing? So I put on my dad’s coat over my dress so Michael wouldn’t see me in my dress before the wedding, and went to see Michael. I thought he would calm me down, remind me why we were getting married.”
“And you walked in on him fuckin’ a bridesmaid.”
“Not quite. I didn’t actually go in.” She took a drink, swirled the dregs. “His friends, the groomsmen and the bridesmaids, they were all sitting outside his dressing room watching something on one of their phones, laughing like crazy. I was like ‘hey, what’s so funny?’ and they
He came down precariously balancing three plates in his hands. He handed me two of them, paused in the doorway as he caught sight of Dru hunched over the bar, curled around her beer and struggling to calm down…at ten o’clock in the morning.
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “That’s all you, bro.”
“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes at him as he tiptoed dramatically back up the stairs. “Sissy.”
“Hey, give me a tango with an AK over a weepy female any day of the week.” He shut the door at the top of the stairs, and then I was alone with Dru.
Who was, yes, crying into her beer.
God help me.
Zane might have been on to something. What was I supposed to do now? I had no clue. I wasn’t even sure what the fuck had just happened to make Dru freak out on me like that. All I knew for sure was she tasted like heaven on my tongue and felt like perfection in my hands and I was still so fucking hard in my jeans it was hard to walk.
I brought the plates over to the bar, pulled myself a beer—because, fuck it, why not?—set a plate in front of Dru and sat beside her with mine. She didn’t openly flinch away from my presence—we were close enough that our shoulders were brushing. She picked up her fork, poked at the eggs a few times, and then dug in eagerly. I followed suit, but spent as much time watching her as I did eating.
“Not bad,” I commented. “He overcooked the bacon and undercooked the eggs a little, but not bad.”
She ignored me, focusing on the food, washing down every few bites with beer. When she was finished, she pushed the plate back a few inches, curled her hands around the pint glass, and stared down into the golden bubbling liquid.
I waited, sensing that she’d start talking when she was ready.
“I caught my fiancé cheating on me with a bridesmaid on our wedding day. Yesterday, I guess. Feels like a whole other life, in a funny way. Like…the naive girl who thought she was getting married to a man she loved. I was that girl just yesterday, but today I feel like someone else.”
“Was the bridesmaid one of your friends?” I asked.
Dru shook her head. “No. I don’t really have any female friends, to be honest. No sisters, cousins, aunts, nothing. Just me and my dad. The bridesmaids were all my—they were all Michael’s friends’ girlfriends. And the one he was fucking, Tawny, she was a friend of one of the other bridesmaids. There were three groomsmen—Michael’s three best friends—and Michael felt we needed a third bridesmaid, so Lisa asked her friend. I’d met Tawny like, twice? Maybe? We’d all get together for drinks, and Tawny was there a couple times. I never liked her. I always thought she came across as kind of slutty. Turns out I was right, apparently.”
“Apparently,” I agreed. “Think that was a one-and-done sort of thing? Like, he cheated on you just the once?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out. I can’t come up with any warning signs I missed along the way. So, from that aspect I want to say, yes, it was the one time. But then that doesn’t make any sense, does it? Why on our wedding day? It makes literally zero sense. On our wedding day, in his dressing room, in the same building as me. I was literally around the corner and down the hall, getting myself ready.” She sniffed. “I was…I was having jitters, you know? Like, am I doing the right thing? So I put on my dad’s coat over my dress so Michael wouldn’t see me in my dress before the wedding, and went to see Michael. I thought he would calm me down, remind me why we were getting married.”
“And you walked in on him fuckin’ a bridesmaid.”
“Not quite. I didn’t actually go in.” She took a drink, swirled the dregs. “His friends, the groomsmen and the bridesmaids, they were all sitting outside his dressing room watching something on one of their phones, laughing like crazy. I was like ‘hey, what’s so funny?’ and they
Similar Books
